Lawmakers misrepresent the facts when they call the manufacturing deduction known as Section 199 - passed by Congress in 2004 to spur domestic job growth - a 'subsidy' for oil and gas firms. The truth is that all U.S. manufacturers, from software producers to filmmakers and coffee roasters, are eligible for this deduction.

So we have broad bipartisan support for the bill, and it's my hope that we can build on some of the things that have been talked about in Washington involving building a larger ownership society.

I was for civil unions and believed strongly that the flow of benefits and protections that would be provided in a civil union for same-sex couples, the decisions that have to be made, when health hardships are faced, when economic hardships are faced, I wanted all of those protections. I never strayed from them.

Public service is a part of who I am, having grown up in a family of politicians.

I feel that there's a lot of would-be guardians of the culture who think that high-minded literary purpose and the life that gets chronicled in the gossip columns, that these two things are incompatible.

It was a dream come true to play for the University of Pittsburgh. My experience as a Panther is something that influences my life every day and I want to pay that forward.

I learned a lot in my life by paying attention and listening to how people around me worked.

A part of me is missing when I can't ski, but I've learned there's more to define me and make me happy, like stand-up paddling and Jet Skiing - things I'd never done before. Or being with people I love and just enjoying life.